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Kerr at the double to keep finals hopes alive

A brilliant brace from Sam Kerr has helped Perth Glory defeat Adelaide United 2-1 at Hindmarsh Stadium in Round 10 of the Westfield W-League.

A brilliant brace from Sam Kerr has helped Perth Glory defeat Adelaide United 2-1 at Hindmarsh Stadium in Round 10 of the Westfield W-League.

Kerr-s two first-half goals were enough to see off a late Adelaide challenge after Katrina Gorry had given the home side some hope with less than 20 minutes left on the clock.

Despite numerous chances to complete her hat-trick, Kerr was denied only by the brilliant performance by United goalkeeper Kristi Harvey.

Collette McCallum had the first real chance of the match when the Glory and Westfield Matildas midfield general shot wide of Harvey-s post.

However, it didn-t take long for Perth to take the lead and it was McCallum-s delightful pass to Kerr which saw the latter control the ball with her shoulder and finish with the outside of her boot into the bottom corner.

McCallum then tried to get herself on to the scoresheet but blasted her free kick just off target.

The Glory-s first half dominance was evident when Kerr turned provider for Elisa D-Ovidio, but Adelaide captain Christina Papageorgiou slid in to deny D-Ovidio as she was about to pull the trigger.

A sea of Adelaide defenders didn-t faze McCallum as she weaved her way through them a few minutes later, but Harvey was able to save the midfielder-s effort.

Attacking left-back Carys Hawkins then let loose an ambitious shot when nothing was on offer up front and her shot dipped onto the roof of the net to give the Adelaide faithful a scare.

It was left to Kerr to give her side a 2-0 advantage at the main break after another inch-perfect pass from McCallum allowed the 17-year-old to beat Ashleigh Gunning and chip the goalkeeper, whose palm save wasn-t enough to keep the ball out of the net.

The second stanza saw Adelaide creep into the match and Papageorgiou tried to lead by example when her long bomb needed a fingertip save from Glory goalkeeper Tine Cederkvist to deflect the ball onto the crossbar to deny United-s first.

It was then left up to Gorry to pull one back after she beat Alex Singer and saw Cederkvist-s attempted clearance rebound off the Adelaide player and allow her to run into an empty net and score.

A neat pass from Glory substitute Marianna Tabain allowed D-Ovidio to register a shot, but her effort travelled wide of the target.

With just five minutes to go, Kerr tried to seal the match with a fantastic turn and shot, but Harvey was again her nemesis.

Tabain then cheekily opted to pass to McCallum on the edge of the area from her corner kick and the latter-s chest and volley dipped just wide before referee Christine Hofmann signalled for full time moments later.

Canberra United-s 4-1 defeat of Newcastle means the Glory leapfrog the Jets into fourth place, while Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory will play tomorrow afternoon.

Perth will now host the Victory on Sunday 23 January at Inglewood-s 6PR Stadium, where a win would go a long way in cementing a finals spot.